Start and stop, repeat

Man it’s been too long. Cha Ching set me up with the opportunity to Q at the SWAMP and I must say, I do miss that place. But then again, I think I say that with every AO I have the opportunity to Q at. So for this one, I “solicited” a few ideas from my Ragnar team and even got to incorporate a few of them while only 2 of them graced us with their presence.

17 BC’ers and 2 Ruckers for a total of 19 was the count as we circled up to be disclaimed and get a brief unnecessary overview of what I thought would be necessary instructions. In short, this post would be about starting and stopping, that’s it. No deeper meaning, no Beyond discussion this time, just full on “get your work on and get it done.” We’ll be running between our COP’s at 2 different speeds and I’ll call it out before we take off: 1: All you’ve got and 2: As a PAX.

1: COP in THD’s parking lot: for a little warm up.

2: Lt. Dans

3: Merkins/Carolina Dry Docks

4: Kracken Burpee (Only 1 way to get better at these and when in the Lake Wylie area, these are a must).

5: Staggered Merkins & Jump Squats

6: 1 min of 6″ leg holds, 1min 45 degree crunch hold. Followed by Dips & Dry Docks again.

7: 2min Al Gore, 1 min 6″ Merkin hold and 1min Calf Raise hold. Bunny hop 30 yds and back.

8: Diamonds, Wide-Arm Merkins, Slow Sumo Squats & 1min Flutter Kicks with a press

9: 24 Dips & the fountain

COT: Prayers for Stang’s parents, Emma Holt, those in the path of Hurricane Florence. Be open to how you can help others in the wake of the storm.

Until next time…

Maximus

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Games At Pantheon

7 HIM began with a brief disclaimer followed by a mosey to the back of the school, the long way.

Circle up for Warm-O-Rama:
2 slow windmills.  Q altered his count for a HALT when he realized the wind was about to be stronger, so we did:
2 medium windmills.  Q altered his count for a HALT when he realized it was going to be a hurricane, so we did:
10 fast windmills.
Imperial Walkers x 15
Freddie Murcuries x 15
LBC’s x 15
Plank to 6″ for a 10-count, back to plank, right arm up, wave goodbye to clear skies, plank, left arm up, wave goodbye to clear skies, plank, 6″ for a 10-count. Recover on feet.
Q joins circle for Howling Monkeys (hold monkey humper position while one PAX at a time completes a 10 count monkey humpers), went two times through. Mosey to field in front of TCES

THA THANG: LET THE GAMES BEGIN

Considering the Q felt like we all may be stuck in our homes without power and we may have to play games with our kids, Q decided to  play some outdoor games while we could.
GAME 1: The BOPO Cornhole
Q brought cornhole boards, teams of 2 (one w/3). Start with 15 points (21 for the team of 3). Each team member threw two bags to attempt to reduce the score of 15.  Remaining number was # of BOPO reps.  Most ended up with 12.  Q modified all down to 7 reps, as he expected better cornhole throwers.  We did not do well.  Each PAX did 7 BOPO’s (Burpee, One-legged Burpee, Plank Jack, Other One-legged Burpee).  Thank goodness for modification.

Q is from God’s country, Minnesota, where the proper name for the next games is Duck Duck Grey Duck  (How does a goose get thrown in there? So silly…).  The only difference is PAX holds Al Gore whilst playing.  Played until our legs were shot.

Next, in consideration of the hurricane, we did the Bermuda Triangle.  3 cones approx. 30 yards apart, in the shape of *you guessed it* a triangle.  Cone 1, one burpee.  Cone 2, two burpees.  Cone 3, three burpees.  Rinse and repeat.  Travel from cone to cone via bear crawl.

Last game of the day was a nice game of frisbee.  Each PAX got a throw.  Upon the throw, PAX sprinted toward the frisbee.  As soon as it hit the ground, the thrower of the frisbee called out how to get the reminder of the way there. (Bear crawl, Crab Walk, Reverse Crab Walk, Duck Walk, Lunge Walk, Broad Jump).

Lastly, a little Triple Check. One team of 3 and One team of 3 plus Q.  Partner 1 held people’s chair while Partner 2 held plank while Partner 3 sprinted to the end of the parking lot and back.  Completed three of each position.

COT, announcements, prayers, praises, BOM.

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Nickels at the Quagmire

We had 14 Pax show up in the gloom this morning including 1 FNG “Supafly” and the “Return of the Jedi” (I couldn’t help myself) from his foot injury.

I gave a nice disclaimer for our FNG and we took a long mosey around the parking lot while mixing in, shuffle steps, NUR, toy soldiers, butt-kickers, and high-knees, before settling in around the back parking lot behind the fountain that had the stairway access.

Warm-a-Rama

Keeping with the shoulder-burn theme, we circled up for the following:

  • Windmills x 10 IC
  • Plank (2-10 counts)
  • Elbow Plank (2-10 counts)
  • Merkins x 10 IC
  • SSH x 25 IC
  • Plank (10-count)
  • Peter Parker x 10 IC
  • Parker Peters x 10 IC
  • 6″ Plank Hold (2-10 counts)

We recovered and I began explaining the 1st of 3 routines we made it to today, I had at least 1 more nasty one planned, but the last one was so brutal I think the PAX were glad we didn’t get to it.  In any case, I kept it nice and easy to remember, everything was in sets of 5, hence the “Nickels”.

1st routine:

From the center island in the parking lot we performed 5 x True Americans (Hand-release Merkin w/Plank Jack), Bear Crawled up to and then up the steps and across the landing, Crawl Bear down the steps, and Bear Crawled back to the center lot where we did Hydraulic Squats (Squat, right kneed down, left knee down, right knee back to squat, left knee back to squat, rise and repeat x 5).  Then repeated the whole routine x 5.

2nd routine:

Thinking the shoulders needed some rest we did some sprints.  Starting at the back parking island, we sprinted to the top parking lot island (maybe 40 yards), did 5 Burpees, then sprinted back to the start and did 5 Absolution.  This was then repeated 5 more times.  I had some shipping pads laid out for the PAX to keep the elbows safe.

3rd routine:

I wasn’t sure if I was going to do this one going in, but we had an even PAX count so we did it and I think everyone hated it equally so I’m glad we did it.  Anyway, Partner up, and in wheelbarrow position with 2nd PAX holding legs of 1st PAX, 1st PAX performs 5 Donkey Farmers (think Peter Parker with your partner holding your legs).  We then wheelbarrow-walked up to and up the flight of stairs and did 5 Derkins at the top landing.  Recovered and moseyed back to start and switched partners.  Time cut this one a bit short, but I think everyone got in at least 3 sets of this one.  Amazing push by all the PAX, this one was hard.

We made it back to CoT with about a minute left so I asked Jedi to call out an Ab exercise, which was a one-legged V-Up. I think we did 10 of these IC which took us right up to 6:00AM.

Announcements, Praises, Prayers

  • Read your newsletter!
  • 6th annual invergence at Rush Pavilion on 9/21 @ 5:30
  • Prayers for new jobs, and injured PAX, and Charlotte schools back at it today

Until next time (Thursday at the Poopdeck),

-Flux

 

 

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No Hills at Alcatraz

With a lot of the PAX spending time with their 2.0s at F3 Dads camp I wasn’t sure what type of turnout we’d have. Thankfully 8 other PAX missed the F3 Dads deadline like myself and decided to post.

Disclaimer was given and off we went on a warm up lap around the park. Onto field for normal exercises: 25-SSHs, 15-Windmills, 20-Merkins, 15-Peter Parkers in Plank, 20-Slow Squats, & 15 Smurf Jacks.

Mosey over to wall under concession stand and partner up.

  1. P1 does peoples chair while P2 runs to fence and back. Swap and then repeat so each PAX runs twice.
  2. Leg pushdowns – Try not to let your legs hit the ground after partner pushes them down. 15 then swap.
  3. Wheelbarrow from foul line out to back of infield behind short-stop then swap going back.
  4. Burpee jump overs – P1 is down in plank, P2 jumps over and does a burpee for a total of 8. Then swap so P2 does 8. Then keep swapping and reducing burpees by 2 (P1-8, P2-8, P1-6, P2-6, P1-4…)
  5. Empty shopping cart – Kinda like a backwards wheelbarrow. Crab walk instead of bear crawl with partner holding legs up.
  6. 15 partner merkins with handslaps, run to fence and back then 15 more.
  7. Come together into 2 5 man teams. 4 guys are in plank while the last guy weaves his way to the front then drops into plank and lets the last guy know to start. We made it about half way across the outfield before it was time for the main event.

Walker takes the Q and we mosey over to other field for 410 shotgun. 4 cones in a square, same exercise to be done at cone each time, 10 reps each cone, 10 times around the square.

  • 1st cone was 10 burpees
  • 2nd cone was 10 V-ups
  • 3rd cone was 10 diamond merkins
  • 4th cone was 10 body squats

The plan was to do 10 rounds of this but we audibled after the 7th round to circle up for the following pleasantries all in cadence:

  • 60 – 4 count flutter kicks
  • 40 Freddie Mercury’s
  • Heels 6″ off ground for 90 seconds
  • 20 single count Merkins
  • 20 staggered Merkins (10 left hand forward, 10 right hand forward)

Time’s up, PAX were smoked. COT.

I didn’t know Walker that well before this but I heard he was a machine. There was talk the night before about pre-running so I decided to join him and Fish Sticks. Of course Tega Cay is nice and flat and those 2 are slow….so I learned not to pre-run a hard workout anymore. But overall it was a lot of fun and appreciate the opportunity to lead!

-Mainframe

 

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Taters beat down

23 Pax, 19 for Bootcamp and 4 Ruckers

Welcome FNG Mill-Billy

It’s been a while since Tater had the Q and he did not disappoint!

He gave the disclaimer and we were off to mosey, Toy Soldiers, Butt Kickers, Knee to chest, Karaoke

COP Did a few exercises here to get nice and warm before we mosied over to the fountain and partnered up

Dora 1-2-3-4 100 Derkins, 200 Step-ups, 300 Dips, 400 LBC one partner ran the loop while the other partner did the exercise

We got through one full round and started our way back down before we stopped and returned to the COT area to do a little Ab-Lab

Excellent work! It was not an easy workout and we were all challenged!!

Great work Tater and the PAX!!!!!!

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Creativity in Leadership/Beyond

Beyond Workout & The Ranch joined up to discuss and experience Creativity in leadership through the lens of F3 – Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith.

As I spent time preparing for this Beyond workout, a lot of what I planned to cover resonated pretty heavily with me.

I asked 3 things of the PAX: (1) challenge yourself (2) encourage one another (3) engage in the workout/discussions and begin responding to the challenges in the days and weeks to come.

Started with dynamic warm-ups: a combination of mosey, toy soldiers, knees to chest, ankle toward chest, karaoke.

The Thang:

Mosey to first location at the end line  of soccer field in front of Springfield Elementary School. Talked about part 1 of 3 things that I believe is necessary to achieve creativity in leadership: Get out of your comfort zone, leading from the front and when more appropriate partnering, delegating and/or supporting.

There’s the adage “don’t Q it if you can’t do it”.  In every workout I Q I try to push myself and the PAX outside of the comfort zone, because the biggest gains come from being challenged.  There is a guy I’ll refer to as Geronimo, who once said “if you want to run faster, you have to practice running faster.”  This  can be applied to many facets of your life – whether talking about actually running faster or getting stronger or if you want to be a “better” husband, father, friend, employee, saver, giver, fill in the blank.  Get out in front of it (outside the comfort zone) and hallenge yourself.  All f that being said, there are enevitably things that are not my/your strengths or are the strengths of others – where it s doesn’t make sense to lead from the front.  In these situations, Partner, delegate and/or support those around us that have those strengths.  It could be the PAX to our left/right or our M, a Whetstone partner…again fill in the blank.  We are all HIM, but we can’t do everything ourselves. Remember that 1 grain of sand doesn’t make a beach.  Challenge: Think of the impact we can make when we both lead from the front and (when more appropriate) partner, delegate and/or support those around us.

exercise group 1: First, from the end line, lead from the front in a soccer field length sprint (if your not in the front or are the 6, make sure you challenge yourself).  Down and back 3 times.  Next, on the sideline, partner-up and support someone by carrying them across the field.  Alternate back and forth 3 times.

Mosey to second location at the bottom of the hill at the bus loop in front of Springfield Middle School.  Talked about part 2 of 3 in achieving creativity in leadership: always look for opportunities to set yourself apart.

When I took the reins at Varsity, we had plenty of bootcamps and I was reluctant to Q “another bootcamp” – it was winter, attendance was very low, and frankly there was talk of consolidating the AO.  I knew that for it to remain on its own, it needed to stand apart from other workouts, which resukted in choosing the HIIT workout format.  The AO went from many weeks of myself and maybe 1 or 2  others to consistently 10-15 PAX.  I believe that the uniqueness of the AO and the willingness to try something new outside of the comfort zone is what drew the PAX.  Challenge: Think about what it means to start ourselves apart in how we interact with those within our spheres of influence – out Ms, 2.0s, coworkers.  Light always frowns out darkness.

exercise group 2: The PAX we’re split into two groups with group 1 running the bus loop while group 2 performed a modified Jacobs ladder of 3 burpees at the top of the hill and 3 v-ups at the bottom until the first group returned.  Switcharoo.  Rinse and repeat until each group ran the bus loop 3 times.

Mosey to the third location at the back entrance to the middle school.  Talked about part 3 of 3 in how to achieve creativity in leadership: don’t be predictable.

I was a runner pre-F3.  In fact, that’s is what drove me to F3 (a story for another time).  When I was asked to Q my first kettlebell workout, my natural inclination was to run with the bell. There have been many iterations of that since – bells, blocks, rocks, flat ground, hills.  My goal is to alway challenge myself and the PAX in ways we may have not been challenged before.  There are reasons why there are different variations on the merkin or squat!  Not to mention I get bored doing he same thing over and over.  Challenge: think about he areas of your life where you are predictable – your relationship with you M or 2.0s or how you exercise your faith – what are some ways to break out of that comfort zone and be less predictable?

exercise group 3: 3 LEGIT reps of each – Merkins, Squats, Diamond Merkins, Sumo Squats, Wide Arm Merkins, Alternating Solit Squats, Hand Release Merkins, Pistol Squats.

Running out of time, bear crawl to the straight away and then mosey back to COT.

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D-Day Army Training

Warm up – Toy Soldiers, Windmill, Moroccan night clubs, SSH, Merkins

Modified APFT test
F3 Name
Merkins
Situps
1 Mile Run
Cornhole
40
45
Modified
Spartacus
18
10
Modified
Curious George
38
50
9:04
Fish Sticks
76
64
6:58
Fun House
45
63
6:42
Cable guy
65
60
8:05
Mr Clean
45
50
7:50
Brick
57
66
6:35
Tesh
80
80
7:50
BMT
54
45
7:24
Offspring
22
45
6:46
Gopher
45
46
8:22 ?
Sugar Daddy
48
53
7:20
Announcements – Hog & Coyote, Sweati, CSPAN B-Day Bash, Lawn Mowing FM Care Center
Prayers Praises – Work Meetings, Service Members, Vacation-Family, Daughter Cheer leading, Ron Brown Stroke, Health, Son away at camp, Son Summer School, Friends Brain Tumor, Family Relationships, Winchester had a Stroke
D-Day Notes
  • Deception Efforts
    • Operation Bodyguard
      • Fictitious First US Army Group – Commanded by George Patton
        • 20 made up units – Had patches made
        • False Radio Transmissions
  • Delayed 24 hours due to weather
    • a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable
    • Full Moon – Aid Pilots – illuminate obstacles on the beach
    • High Tides – limit exposure on the beach
  • 156,000 Allied Troops
  • 12 medal of Honor Recipients
    • BARRETT, CARLTON W. – Private, U.S. Army, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division
    • *BUTTS, JOHN E. – Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Co. E, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division.
    • *DEGLOPPER, CHARLES N. – Private First Class, U.S. Army, Co. C, 325th Glider Infantry, 82d Airborne Division.
    • EHLERS, WALTER D. – Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.
    • *COLE, ROBERT G. – Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 101st Airborne Division.
    • *DEFRANZO, ARTHUR F. – Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, 1st Infantry Division.
    • *KELLY, JOHN D. – Technical Sergeant (then Corporal), U.S. Army, Company E, 314th Infantry, 79th Infantry Division.
    • *MONTEITH, JIMMIE W., JR. – First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.
    • OGDEN, CARLOS C. – First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company K, 314th Infantry, 79th Infantry Division.
    • *PEREGORY, FRANK D. – Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company K 116th Infantry, 29th Infantry Division.
    • *PINDER, JOHN J., JR. – Technician Fifth Grade, U.S. Army, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.
    • *ROOSEVELT, THEODORE, JR. – Brigadier General, U.S. Army.
    • * Denotes a posthumous award
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Quagmire: Expected cooler temps but was still Hot Mess!

7 PAX came to the muddy shoreline called Quagmire for a Monday morning kickoff of their week.

Friday YHC Q’ed at Varsity and had 4 sets of exercises to get through and only got through 2, so today we will complete the circuit….almost.

The Thang:

Mosey through Rivergate, past McDonald’s and the smell of something briefly appetizing and then quickly gross. Continued on to RISE for quick COP

  • Low Slow Squats
  • Merkings
  • LBCs
  • Hill Billy walkers
  • Moracan Night Clubs
  • wide arm merkins
  • Freddy Murcurys

Mosey to the Fountain

  • Derkins-30seconds
  • Box Jumps-60 seconds
  • Dips/Irkins-90 seconds
  • 1 min rest
  • 3 times

Mosey to other parking lot

  • Mtn Climbers-30seconds
  • Leg raises-60 seconds
  • Jump Rope-90 seconds
  • 1 min rest
  • 3 times

Mosey to Home Depot

  • Pullups – 30 seconds
  • SSHs – 60 Seconds
  • Burpees – 90 Seconds

Mosey to Marshals

  • Sprint up Hill and Back
  • 10 Box jumps

COT:

Spoke to the men about “Witnessing” and that it is referenced often in spiritual sense but also in a court of law. Speaking to what you saw, facts of things that have happened. Question and challenge to all us PAX is what are people witnessing about you. Not the Facebook you but the REAL you and who you really are. Can they state the facts of what kind of man you are or is everyone covered in the Facebook facade of you. Facades fade and crumble. Make and impact with the real you and let that be your witness!

Cake Boss out!

 

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Goodbye Uncle Sam!

OK so moderate is a loose term but modify as needed!

Disclaimer given and were were off to mosey a short way down near Empire Pizza to COP

Start with 20 SealJacks

10 Diamond Merkins

20 Slow Squats

20 Peter Parker

20 SSH

20 Parker Peter

20 IW

Plank on Elbows and Hold it for 2 min

20 Moroccan Night Club

Mosey a short ways and partner up

Several rounds of one partner backwards run about 20 yards and forward back to starting point

meanwhile partner two stays in and completes exercise then flip flop

78 squats on the curb

78 calf raises

78 wide merkins

78 LBC

78 Flutters

78 Carolina Dry Docks

39 Burpees (Crowd Please) Run Forward

78 Wide Merkins

4 rounds of Al Gore

Finish with 2 rounds of Body Destroyers

Mosey back to COT

Uncle Sam heads back to his native Colombia with 2 O’s! Safe travels! Hope yo see him back!

 

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Spin it and win it

4 PAX decided to get better on a low attendance friday morning for a moderate bootcamp, we blame it on the Ruck event going on that night that most of the swamp “regulars” had signed up for. We welcomed 1 FNG (dungaree) and he’s a sprout of the strawberry seeds planted the previous weekend at the festival.

We started with a mossey to the Marshall’s / Pet Smart parking lot for a quick warm up:

side straddle hops

windmills

moroccan night clubs

low slow squats

LBC’s

merkins

 

THE THANG

mosseyed to the stairs next to Just Fresh and partnered up so partner #1 runs the stairs up and down 5 times while partner #2 planked and did LBC’s, two round of stairs per partner.

Next we moved down to the fountain area were a spin roulette was waiting for us with 6 different exercises (derkins, dips, LBC’s, Squats, jump squats, Dying cockroaches) , the roulette arrow dictated the number of repetitions we did of each exercise, after finishing each round we run up and down the stairs for a cool down,  we did 6 rounds of this and for the 7th and 8th round each PAX suggested an exercise, we did burpees, flutters, superman, lunges, world’s worst merkins (wide, regular, diamond merkin) we finished up with a sprint to COT.

We finished our bootcamp with announcements, prayers and praises

Tinsel Out…

 

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